Promotional group’s $500 pledge to veterans’ cause still unanswered
Melissa Sundardas
Staff Writer
Despite promises made by its organizers, proceeds from the Salute the Veterans Underground party have yet to be donated to The Royal Canadian Legion’s North York Branch 66.
York University Student Centre (YUSC) executive director Scott Jarvis confirmed with Underground managers who were present the night of the November 10 event that about 220 people were in attendance.
When first asked how many advance tickets were sold in total and what the total amount of funds raised from the event was, Yussuf Yanni, member of the D-Boys International promotion group and co-organizer of Salute the Veterans said: “I’m not going to talk when I’m going to prove it.”
When asked again to provide Excaliburwith the amount of money
that was raised by the event, Yanni said: “We know what we raised, don’t worry about that,” adding he was busy and “couldn’t talk” before hanging up. He was unreachable after this conversation.
Last week, Underground employee Ruth Johnson and Salute the Veterans organizer Don-David Kouassi said D-Boys International promotion group heads Kouassi and Yanni would be donating at least $500 to The Royal Canadian Legion’s North York Branch 66.
Bob Scott, poppy chairman of The Royal Canadian Legion’s North York Branch 66, confirmed that “a girl” from York—who didn’t leave her name or any further information—had called the branch last Tuesday, asking how to go about making a donation to the Legion.
Scott says the female told him they were doing a little bit of a fundraiser, but she didn’t go into detail about what they were charging or what they aimed at making or donating.
“We were here Friday all day and then Saturday, Sunday, and during this week as well, but nobody’s been in from York University making any donations,” says Scott. “She was running away sort of when I was having the conversation with her, so she just took the information and she just told me that basically she’d get back to me after that point in time, but we haven’t heard from her as of today,” he continues.
Scott says once any money or a cheque is in the hands of the branch they would make a receipt out to whoever made the donation—whether it be York, a student association, an organization, or an individual—so they would have some record of their donation.
Excalibur attempted to reach Johnson extensively; as of publication, she did not respond.
Kouassi sent an email statement to Excalibur saying that the Salute the Veterans event did not receive “as much positive feedback on donations” as organizers hoped they would.
However, he maintained that “it was a great event, and everyone do [sic] seemed to enjoy themselves […] the ones that came will definitely have something to remember and something to look forward to. A $500 donation will be made to the Royal Canadian Legion, that will go towards helping Veterans,” he wrote.
